Photo: Schorle · CC BY-SA 4.0
Joe Armon-Jones uses a Soundcraft Series 400B desk with a Roland Space Echo looped into it, a Mu-Tron Bi-Phase phaser, Coles microphones, a Hammond organ and a Rhodes in his Aquarii studio. He has been seen using a UDO Audio Super 8 synth and a Nord Piano 2 on stage.
“I like the smoothness of the desk and the faders and how they work. I like the saturation that I get from it.”
“I have the Space Echo looped into the desk, which is something that a producer friend of mine called Kabir La Amlak showed me”
“I use this phaser unit on everything”
“The Coles mics sound sweet on everything! They make drums sound fat and warm”
“I now record with it all the time”
Independent research by truerecs: every item links to the public source it comes from.
“I like the smoothness of the desk and the faders and how they work. I like the saturation that I get from it.”
“I have the Space Echo looped into the desk, which is something that a producer friend of mine called Kabir La Amlak showed me”
“I use this phaser unit on everything”
“The Coles mics sound sweet on everything! They make drums sound fat and warm”
“I now record with it all the time”
“Even though it is a pain to have to get my Rhodes serviced, or my Hammond organ oiled every year, the act of doing it reminds me why I have the objects in the first place.”
“One of the most masterful albums I have ever heard.”
“That record had a big influence on the way I approached making 'Starting Today'”
“Go listen to his new project 'It's A World Before You' it will change things for you.”
Joe Armon-Jones has been seen using a UDO Audio Super 8 polyphonic synth in a 2024 video from UDO Audio. He has also said he keeps his synths alongside his organ and Rhodes in his Aquarii studio.
He uses a Hammond organ and a Rhodes electric piano at his Aquarii studio, and said in 2025 that he records with the organ all the time. He has been seen playing a Nord Piano 2 on stage at INNtone Jazzfestival in 2019.
He uses a Soundcraft Series 400B desk, mixing by hand on the faders and effect sends, with a Roland Space Echo looped into the desk and a spring reverb, in the style of dub engineers like King Tubby.
He uses Coles ribbon microphones in his studio and told Huck in 2025 that they make drums sound fat and warm.
He has said he loves Burning Spear's Marcus Garvey, calling it one of the most masterful albums he has heard, and has pointed listeners to Patrice Rushen's Prelusion and Kaidi Tatham's It's A World Before You.
Joe Armon-Jones is a London keyboardist and producer, a member of Ezra Collective and the founder of Aquarii Records. This guide covers the keys, desk and dub effects in his Aquarii studio, plus records he has talked about.
truerecs put this guide together from public videos, interviews and posts. Each item says how we know and links to the source. Joe Armon-Jones didn't write it or choose anything on it. How we source gear guides.
Report an error or ask for removal. We fix or remove within 72 hours. You don't need to sign up.
Claim this page to make it yours: verify with your Instagram, TikTok or YouTube, keep what's right, drop what isn't, and add your own.
Claim this page